The table topping battle between the second division's two best sides Atlético Madrid and Xerez ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw. Played on a Sunday lunchtime, the match attracted a capacity 56,000 crowd, hoping to see their side move a step closer to promotion back to the first division. There was one notable absentee from the touchline however, Xerez manager Bernd Schuster having to watch from the stands as he was starting a four match ban for insulting the referee in the last game the weekend before. His side though put up a sterling performance, particularly goalkeeper Ramón who kept out the wave of red and white shirts late in the game. The Xerez defence held solid in the first half, and Luis Aragonés threw on an extra forward, Fernando Torres, at the break. Atlético got the ball in the net twice after the restart, the first from Hibic and then from Diego Alonso when Ramón's clearance hit him on the back, but both times the goals were disallowed by the referee who ruled that Alonso had committed an infraction. Xerez were always dangerous on the counterattack though, and Pineda almost stole away the three points near the end. The draw maintains the six point gap between the two, and Xerez will have to produce some good results in the remaining six weeks if they are hold on to the promotion spot.

Recreativo moved back up to third place for 24 hours or so after a last gasp 1-0 win over Eibar on Saturday evening. Despite having not won in eight games and only scored twice during that time, the visitors came looking for a score-less draw, and they did not give their opponents much of a look at goal in the 90 minutes of normal time. The Basque side were reduced to ten men when Félix Guerrero got himself sent off for two petulant actions in a row six minutes from the end, but with the game moving into injury time it looked as if they were going to snatch a surprise victory when Cabrejo hit the bar. But then straight afterwards Galán ran on to head Gallego's free kick past the startled Almunia to give Recreativo their first win in three games and put them back in the running for promotion. After Sunday's games they ended the weekend in fourth place, now only three points behind second placed Xerez.

Racing Santander won back third place from Recre on Sunday night with a 0-1 victory at Numancia. Txiki got the goal without meaning to in the twelfth minute, his soft free kick intending to find a forward's head but instead bouncing past everyone and in to the net with keeper Jonathan looking on. The Soria based side came back, and keeper Lemmens had to make good saves from Suffo and Aranda in the first half and Rosu after the break. However the Cantabrians were never in much trouble, and Regueiro almost increased their lead in the final minutes. This was Racing's fifth win in seven games, and the players had to come back out of the dressing room after the game to acknowledge the cheers of the many fans who had made the long trip to watch their side. Numancia are falling back near the bottom spots, and are now only two points above the relegation zone.

Three other games ended with one goal victories on Sunday evening, including the match between Córdoba and Oviedo which the visitors won. The home side should have wrapped things up earlier on though, with Ramón heading just wide in the first half and then seeing a close range effort cleared off the line in the second. However the Asturians have the best defence in the league, having only let in 23 goals in 36 games, and with Esteban once again solid in goal and Onopko leading a well organised defence they held firm, despite playing the last quarter of the game with ten men after Oscar Alvarez was sent off. Marigil was playing a waiting game, looking to defend and surprise his opponents on the breakaway, and they got their unjust reward ten minutes from the end when substitute Santamaría carved through the defence to set up Oli for the only goal of the game. Oviedo stay in fifth place, still three points away from the promotion spots.

The top five open up a four point gap over the rest, and with six games to go it looks like the three promotion spots will come from their ranks. Elche moved sixth with a 1-0 victory over a poor Gimnastic Tarragona, who drop to the bottom of the table and are now looking like strong candidates for relegation. The home side had difficulty getting the ball in the net despite the numerous chances they created, with Serrano waiting too long with only the keeper to beat just before the break and hitting the post early in the second half. The turning point was when Meca came on with twenty minutes to go, and after going close a couple of times he finally beat Javi Ruiz with a low shot. Nàstic ended the game with ten men when Marcelo picked up a second booking.

Sporting Gijon kept up their slim chances of promotion with a 3-2 victory over Jaén and they move up a place to seventh. Spanish under-21 international Villa gave them the lead early on, getting ahead of Curro Montoya to poke the ball home. Rueda levelled the scores midway through the half after Sierra set him up, but Dani Borreguero restored the lead just before the break from Dorado's cross. Dorado made a third goal for Soto on the hour mark, but Jaén gave the home supporters a fright in the last minute when Bizcayzacú beat keeper Valencia. The defeat takes Jaén down into the bottom four.

Albacete are level with Sporting after drawing 1-1 with Extremadura. The home side opened the scoring in the first minute through Jesús Pereda who beat Felip at the second attempt, and they should have extended their lead when José was presented with three or four chances, including one which hit the post. However the visitors came back with a an equaliser a quarter of an hour later through Jorge Pérez, who finished off after Moya headed the ball on. Felip saved at point blank range from a Perera header early in the second half, and the visitors held on to give new manager Gori (who replaced Ortuondo earlier in the week) some hope of salvation. They climb off bottom spot up to twentieth, two points now from safety.

Gori was one of two managerial changes in the last seven days, the other being at Badajoz, where third team coach Rodri replaced Carlos Alhinho who was sacked after a string of bad results. He didn't do much better though, losing 2-3 to a Burgos side who had only managed one goal in over sixteen hours of football before this match. It took goalkeeper Tito to open the scoring for the visitors from the penalty spot midway through the first half after Pedro Nieto fouled José Marí, and although the home side levelled the scores twice through Pepín and later on through Jorge Zafra, goals from Isailovic and Dani Pendín in the second half gave the visitors their first win since mid-January. To make matters worse, Jornet was sent off in the injury time for the home side, who drop to within four points of the bottom four.

Burgos stay level with Salamanca, who beat Racing Ferrol 3-1 to move two points ahead of them in the table. Once again their star player was Makukula, who scored twice after the break to take his total for the season to twenty. Zegarra opened the scoring for the home side from the penalty spot after Marcos stopped Makukula's pass with his hand, and brought a great save out of Aizkorreta after the beak from a free kick. Racing's best player Ismael equalised temporarily for the Gallicians in the second half, but Makukula headed home a cross from Tomás almost immediately to restore the lead and added another six minutes later after Quique Madina and Mario combined to set him up. Samir hit the bar for the visitors soon afterwards, but they fell to their second defeat in a row and have now gone five games without a win.

The team on form though is Poli Ejido. They moved out of the relegation spots for the first time this season with a 0-1 win at Murcia. It was a bit of a struggle though, with keeper Segura saving an eighth minute penalty from Cuadrado after Sandro handled in the area and Murcia wasting a series of chances before Sergio Cruz got the winner a quarter of an hour from the end with virtually their first shot at goal. The side has not looked back since Castro Santos took over earlier in the season, and over one thousand fans made the journey from Almería to cheer on their team. Murcia are now only a point above the bottom four having only won once in their last eight games under David Vidal.

Leganés also moved away from the danger zone with a late1-2 victory over struggling Levante. The home side started the day down in twentieth place, but a win would have put them level on points with their opponents. Things started well for the Valencia based side when Setvalls headed them in front from Ettien's cross with just over a quarter of an hour gone, and Salas missed a couple of opportunities to extend their lead before half time. However the Madrid team came out after the break more motivated, and they equalised three minutes after the restart from a Miguel Angel penalty. Levante threw everything forward, but it was the visitors who hit the winner five minutes from the end through Arnal, and the home side ended with ten players after Aurelio picked up a second yellow card in injury time. After the match Leganés accused their opponents of trying to bribe one of their players, and the case is being taken to the disciplinary committee this week.